Dragonborn
by mecaka
Summary: Hiccup has been riding dragons his entire life. In fact, he hasn't known a day where he wasn't surrounded by the beasts. An AU with spoilers for the second film.
1. Prologue: A Mother's Tears

**AN: Hey, peoples of the fan fiction universes! This is my first time writing for HTTYD, and of course I decide to do a complicated AU the same day I see the movie inspiring said complicated AU...**

**Basically, this idea is based on a scene in the second movie. So, SPOILERS AHEAD, TURN BACK NOW FOR YOUR OWN SAKE! Unless of course you don't care about any movie spoilers...**

**Hiccup's mom had that flashback of the night she disappeared, where Cloudjumper was almost playing with baby!Hiccup and she was staring at it, unable to strike. And then Stoick bursts in, scares the dragon into lighting half the room on fire, picks up Hiccup, and spins around to see Cloudjumper carrying off Valka. Well, what if Cloudjumper had taken Hiccup, instead?**

Prologue: A Mother's Tears

Valka looked up after throwing a man off a dragon, and gasped in shock at the sight meeting her eyes: a dragon forcing its way into the second floor of her home. "Hiccup!" she whispered, for the wall the dragon had broken through was the outer wall of her son's nursery.

She began sprinting for the building, hoping beyond hope that her baby would be okay. She burst through the front door, hauling up a sword that had belonged to her father, and took the stairs two at a time. When she finally forced the door open into Hiccup's room, she was prepared to do anything to protect her son, even if it meant going against everything she believed in. She was again shocked by what she found: a huge four-winged beast watching her baby curiously, pupils wide, one clawed wing tip in the cradle almost playing with the babe. The door crashing open caught its attention though, and it's head turned to her and it's claw caught the right side of Hiccup's jaw. She raised her sword in challenge as her son began to cry from the scratch he had received.

The dragon moved closer to her, watching her with wide eyes. Staring into them, she realized she would never kill a dragon, because she couldn't kill a dragon. She saw its intelligence in the curious gaze, it's compassion in the way it had been playing with her son. Dragons weren't inherently dangerous. Her sword dropped and she backed into the wall, unsure of what to do.

Her musings were interrupted when her husband barged in, swinging his axe and roaring in anger. She watched, frozen in place, as the dragon shot fire in an arc at her husband, spun back towards the cradle, and launched itself at the hole in the ceiling, snatching up her son in its lower claws as it went.

She fell to her knees as her husband shouted after the dragon, demanding it return his son. When his voice broke from the grief over taking him, she could here her baby's cries echoing through the night. Her hands went to her mouth, and she began to sob.

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She never forgave herself for her failure. She and she alone was to blame for what had happened. She hadn't been strong enough to kill the monster that had taken her son, and it had probably eaten him later that night.

She believed the tribe would be better off without her. If she couldn't protect her own baby, how was she to protect anyone else?

The guilt and grief together drove her to her sickbed. She was no longer strong enough for anything more than lying listlessly beneath the covers, staring off at nothing.

For years, this was the norm for her now incomplete family. Stoick would visit with her when he had the time, and she would never leave her bed.

And, meanwhile, a human childling was being raised in the company of dragons, learning their ways, yet, somehow, not becoming one.

**AN: So, is that a prologue, or what?**

**I'd love to say that I know exactly what I have in store for you guys, but I have nothing planned out yet. I might do some before posting the actual first chapter.**

**Reviews mean more than follows or favorites! (Though the latters are still appreciated...)**


	2. The Boy by the Lake

**AN: Um, hi? It's been a while... I wanted to say how blown away I was by the response to this story. Like, it has almost as many follows/faves as my first story, which has been much more popular than anything else I've written, so I was very happy.**

**I know that I promised at least a few of the reviewers that this would be up, like, a week after the prologue, but... I've been fighting a major block since February. My life got much too dramatic for me to focus on anything I posted here, so I would have a new idea and not have a clue where to take it. Which is why I only had 1 chapter here for 6 months. and why this other story I started a year ago still only has one chapter... Whoops.**

**Also, to all those reviewers asking all the questions: I don't know where this is going to go. I don't typically plan my stories in advance (hence the super long waits that tend to occur), so I literally have no idea what will happen. I do know two things: I currently have no plans to write baby!Hiccup, and Hiccup will not be speaking Dragon, ever.**

**Before you leave, though, hear me out! Baby!Hiccup isn't the story I'm telling, and isn't very necessary the way I want to tell this story. I might do some flashbacks where we get his POV as a kid, but I'm not sure yet. And he won't be speaking Dragon because, in my opinion, it would be impossible for a person to be able to make those noises. There's such a great range of sounds and pitches that I don't think the human voice can make an accurate copy. He will be able to ****_understand_**** Dragon, but not speak it himself.**

**And, finally, thank you to my lovely beta and internet bestie ****luckynumberblack**** for reading this earlier!**

Chapter 1: The Boy by the Lake

Astrid stormed out of the training ring, gripping her axe tightly in both hands. She _really_ needed to hit something. Snotlout had been distracting _again_ when a dragon was loose! Would he never realize that she wasn't interested? Didn't he know how important this was?

She stomped her way into the forest, looking for a good tree to practice her throwing on. As she walked, she thought about the news she'd overheard at breakfast that morning: the chief, Stoick, feared his wife might not make it through this winter. Astrid had met Valka a few times when her mother had visited her. She was used as an example to the children: _this_ is why dragons are dangerous, why you must learn to kill them; see how weak and sick she is? It is because she could not kill the dragon that threatened her own child, a mere baby.

She understood their reasoning, but dragons were big, and the rumors were that the one that had cradle-snatched that night had been one of the biggest the village had ever seen. If it had been so huge and monstrous, would anyone have been able to defeat it?

Her thoughts drifted away as she debated which direction to take now: over the rock in front of her, or to the right aways, and then sort of back the way she came. She couldn't remember ever having been past this particular rock, so she chose to clamber over, in the spirit of exploration. As she found a handhold and a few promising footholds, she caught some noise coming from beyond the rock; it almost sounded like a voice, but there was a deeper, more visceral noise overlaying it. She hoisted herself higher, and peeked out over the edge.

She saw a boy, a skinny boy about her own age, with longish reddish-brown hair. He was wearing a vest, a worn green shirt, and trousers, but was strangely barefoot. He was kneeling in the mud beside a small lake in the clearing, dragging a stick through the damp earth. And he was talking, but she didn't see anyone else in the clearing with him.

Curious, she finished pulling herself on top of the rock, and called out to the stranger. "Hey!"

The boy jumped at her voice, surprised by her sudden appearance. He dropped the stick he was holding and stared at her, eyes wide in… was that fright?

"It's okay! I just wanted to talk to you," she called as she jumped down from her perch. "I've never seen you around here before… You're not from Berk, are you?"

He looked like a deer that had just realized it was being hunted.

"Are you okay?" she asked, walking forward and sheathing her axe.

"Uh… Yes? I just… uh… I… You surprised me," as he said this, something behind her seemed to catch his eye. Confused, she turned, but saw nothing. When she faced him again, his arms were spread, as if he'd been signaling to someone. He quickly dropped them again. He grinned, the spread of the smile too large to be normal; he was being overly friendly, trying to convince her he was harmless. Which, of course, meant he _wasn't. _

"I'm Astrid," she offered, not wanting to drag on an awkward silence, not wanting him to realize she was onto him—whatever it was he was up to. He was being secretive, and, sure, they just met, but her instincts were screaming at her to _figure out what was going on, for Thor's sake_ and she was just trying to make the best decision. Which, right now, was to not run off.

"Hi… Um… I'm, I'm Erlend."

It was a strange name to have. It literally meant 'outsider', and was usually only used when trying to get a stranger's attention. Why a child would be named that was beyond her.

"So, where are you from, Erlend?"

"It's a pretty long way from here… You probably haven't heard of it." So maybe it wasn't his name, just what he had been called since arriving.

"Oh. Are you visiting Berk?"

He still seemed very distracted. They were sort of walking in circles and it was almost like he was trying to keep something in his line of sight. Astrid wanted to turn again, but she didn't want to scare him off before she'd discovered what he was doing here.

"Uh… no. Not—not really. Just… passing through, I guess."

She looked down and realized she was standing over what he'd been sketching in the mud. It looked like a dragon, but not any that she'd ever seen. "What's this?"

When she looked back up, he had that frightened-deer look again. He gulped visibly before answering. "It's… It's nothing, just a ske—"

"Who were you talking to?"

Erlend blinked as his face paled. He gulped again.

"I heard you talking while I was climbing over that rock," she said, pointing to the boulder that was now behind him. He turned to glance at it, and then looked at her again. His eyes kept shifting to something behind her, though, and she was finally _fed up_. She spun around, and screamed when she saw the dragon crouching on the other side of the small lake. She stepped backwards, turning as she went, and pushed Erlend to the ground. Her axe was in her hand mere moments later, and she turned back to the beast that was now bounding towards her. She could tell Erlend was saying something, but the adrenaline screaming through her body wouldn't let her focus on anything but the danger that was coming ever closer. Her mind was analyzing the terrain and her choices faster than she had ever thought was possible (there was plenty of cover along the edges of the clearing; the soft earth was bound to slow her down; if she threw her axe and missed, she was dead, and she might be dead even if it did hit the beast, better not risk it). She tightened her grip and lifted the weapon above her head, sucking in a breath to release a war cry, when Erlend stood up and yanked on her arm, knocking her off balance. She fell to the ground, hitting her head on a small rock. She went to sit up, and the world spun. She tried to shake off the daze, and when she did, she saw Erlend standing between her and the raging dragon, holding him off with only words and gestures.

_Who was this boy?_

**AN: Please leave reviews! I'd love to hear what you like, what you think I'm doing wrong, and any corrections you might have! (I can't promise to answer questions or to do what you want me to, but I will reply to any and all reviews I receive!)**

**PS- I'll explain how he can speak English in the next chapter... probably. Hopefully, I'll see you guys soon! :D (Review!)**


	3. Flight

**AN: You guys are really lucking out. This is pretty much the only thing I consistently get ideas for anymore. Which is kind of bad for me because I have several other works in progress that need my attention. :/**

**In the mean time though, you get to be spoiled with actual updates.**

"Toothless! Calm down, bud, she was just a little scared. She wasn't going to hurt me and I promise to not let her hurt you. You listening to me, Toothless?"

Astrid could only stare at the pair in terror. Seconds ago, she was sure she and Erlend were dead meat, and now… She didn't know what to think. This scrawny, random kid was doing his best to _talk_ a dragon down. And he was acting like he and the dragon knew each other.

And, considering the way his actions were working, they probably did.

How did something like this happen?

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_The dragon he called Cloudjumper liked taking him on raids. Cloudjumper wanted to make sure that he knew about people, and that he had a chance to learn from them. Over the years, being present in the chaos and visiting towns during the day, he had learned much of the human language._

_But on this night, he saw something he had never seen before—a man took down one of the ones they called a 'Night Fury', which he knew was practically impossible. As far as he could tell, though, no one realized that it had been hit—the man hadn't been aiming for it, he just got a lucky shot without realizing it. When the raid was over, he told Cloudjumper what he had seen, and asked Cloudjumper to take him to where he had seen it fall._

_He found it and loosed it from its bonds. With Cloudjumper's assistance, he convinced the new dragon that he was a friend, and checked it for wounds. He was relieved to find that the beast was nearly perfect in health._

_Cloudjumper told it about the Dragon King's grotto._

_He named the Night Fury "Toothless", after the human tradition._

_They became closer than any other._

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She shook off her thoughts. Who cared how a boy and dragon became friends? She needed to get out of here!

She got to her feet slowly, despite her desire to clear out as quickly as possible; spooking the dragon was a guarantee of getting charged again. She also wanted to try to get away without 'Erlend' noticing her either, because she wasn't really sure if he would send his dragon after her or not. She took several quiet steps backwards, watching as the boy worked to calm the dragon down. She noticed that he seemed to be listening to the dragon's calls, almost as if he could understand them…

As she thought, she had stopped giving attention to the path behind her, and she stumbled over a rock and fell to her backside. As she fell, she couldn't hold back her small cry of surprise, and both boy and dragon turned to the sound. _Perfect_…

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Ruffnut and Tuffnut, the twin terrors of Berk, had been assigned guard duty in the most isolated watch tower. While dragons didn't typically attack during the day, the villagers who hadn't gone on the latest "Quest for the Nest" had decided that they needed to be doubly sure that the dragons didn't surprise them today. It was an _honor_ to be the guardians of the town, even for only a few hours.

(Of course, the real reason behind banishing the two to the furthest regions of Berk had more to do with an accident involving a sheep, several smoked fish, spoiled yak's milk, and a small well not far from the center of town. No one was sure exactly what had happened, but the twins had been found by the now-nearly-demolished well with a very wet sheep.)

"Y'know, when they told us that this job was really important and that only the two of us could do it, I wasn't expecting it to be so…"

"Boring?"

"Yeah."

Ruffnut leaned farther back on his perch, tipping his head until it was upside down.

"I'm kinda starting to think they were mad about the sheep falling in the well," his sister said from the other side of the platform.

"Nah, they're just finally starting to recognize our creativity and problem-solving skills. I mean, that sheep wouldn't have ever gotten _out _of the well if it wasn't for your quick-thinking and my thick skull!"

This, of course, sparked a squabble between the siblings, each wanting to prove to the other that they had the harder head.

(As they argued—and eventually began to bang their heads together as hard as they could, they missed the pitch black dragon and its rider, carrying one of their closest friends off to places unknown.)

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Valka was in her usual place, staring off into nothing when Gothi came into her room. Gothi was very sure that Valka would not last the winter, and she feared that the woman would not even last to see her husband return from his quest. He would be gone many weeks, and Valka was almost visibly growing weaker by the day.

Despite her worries, Gothi would do her best to keep the chief's wife alive as long as possible. She immediately set about her duties: administering the medicine she had made to Valka, doing her best to have the woman eat something, and, when Valka was more lucid, assisting her into fresh clothing. Unfortunately, today was one of the worst Gothi had ever witnessed for Valka, and she was barely able to get the woman to take the medicine, much less eat anything or change.

Gothi left the chief's home with even less hope than before.

As she made her way back to her own home, she realized that today was the day that Valka had lost her son, fifteen years ago. She almost went back, but decided that the woman probably wanted to be alone.

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Stoick the Vast had never had much to fear in life; he was larger than most of the creatures living on the island of Berk, and strong enough to kill anything that was bigger than he was; he had been raised under ideals that taught him how hard life was, and how to face its many challenges head-on; and he had proven himself time and again to the people he took care of, proven that he was a good a leader and that they could trust him. There was little that could even begin to cause him disquiet, much less scare him outright.

Of course, that had been before the gods had seen fit to place a tiny life under his care.

The night Hiccup had been born, Stoick had begun to fear many things he had never worried about before. Anything and everything could hurt his little scrap of a son (_Odin, might he grow big and strong one day_), and he knew that he wouldn't be able to protect him all the time.

He had begun to fear even more after Hiccup had been taken, worried for his wife who had yet to recover, constantly reliving the moment he had seen the dragon snatch his baby from the cradle, forever pondering what he could have done differently and how to make sure that _no_ _one_ had to go through this ever again.

And now, now that he was once again searching for the island that the dragons called home, his only fear was that he wouldn't find it, that he wouldn't be able to avenge his son.

He had stopped feeling anything other than anger fifteen years ago.

**AN: Just want to take a minute and remind everyone that reviews make me really happy, and good moods are better for writing this! :) I also want to say that I prefer reviews that actually tell me something (what did you like about this particular chapter, did you notice any errors, how did a particular part make you feel, etc.). Just saying "OMGGG, THIS IS SOOO GOOOOOOD!" is nice and all, but I'd like to know why you think so. :)**


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